Feb 28 (CI) Avesh Khan and Mohammed Siraj showed serious pace and skill in helpful conditions to blow away Sri Lanka's top order, and there was no coming back from 29 for 4 - even after an unbeaten 38-ball 74 from Dasun Shanaka that transcended the circumstances, the conditions, and the ordinariness of his team-mates' output. Extras (24) was the second-highest scorer, and no SL batter other than Shanaka (194.73) managed more..

Feb 28 (DN) National High Jump champion Ushan Thiwanka based in USA has performed well once again, as he renewed the SL Indoor High Jump record (2.27m) at the Lone Star Conference Track and Field Championship, in the USA in Saturday (26). Thiwanka who is aim for next Asian Games as well as Commonwealth Games has been a leading competitor at the Lone Star Conference while producing his success two years in a row. Last year at the same event, Thiwanka renewed more..

Feb 28 (Island) Ushan Widanapathiranage and Shanaka Peters established national records in their respective weight classes as they won gold medals on the final day of the Singapore Weightlifting International in the Toa Payoh Sports Hall in Singapore on Sunday. Widanapathiranage lifted a national record total of 330kgs (snatch 150kgs) in the over 109kgs weight class as he secured his place in the team for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. more..

Feb 28 (Island) With the govt�s active interest and steps for the enrolment of 5G technology, SL has witnessed a rapid rise in 5G development projects, fibre network, spectrum auction and live 5G trials which have built a strong interest and knack for the technology, vivo technology brand in Sri Lanka says. �5G private networks are being welcomed by the govt to ensure that brands bring along novel measures to uplift Sri Lanka and its vision of becoming a digital economy. more..

Feb 28 (ST) The govt is withdrawing the special Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill aimed at simplifying the existing tax structure and consolidates several taxes as single tax following the Supreme Court�s decision of requiring a two-thirds majority and referendum to enact it as a law, Finance Ministry sources said. The Court observed that several clauses of the bill are inconsistent with some of the articles of the country�s constitution. Special GST consolidates several taxes on more..

Feb 28 (ST) Bhanuka Rajapaksa is back in news, perhaps for wrong reasons. In reality, Rajapaksa is a professional athlete and if he aims to pursue a successful career even at the age of 31, he should be focusing on maintaining the requirements of a pro-cricketer including fitness. It�s no secret that fitness is an important and integral part for any sport, not only that of full contact sports. Nowadays, fitness is treated as primo even in more..

Feb 28 (FT) Workers remittances have plunged to a new low of $ 259 million in January heralding a challenging start for the new year for the Central Bank which has been executing multiple measures to woo inflows via official channels. The figure of $ 259.2 million in January is down by nearly 62% from a year ago and lowest in 13 years. The previous lowest was $ 261.6 million in November 2009. January performance also proved the month-month gain in inflows in December was temporary. more..

Feb 28 (FT) Commercial Bank Group has ended 2021 with gross income of Rs. 163.675 billion, an improvement of 7.70%, with interest income accounting for more than 80% of the top line in a year of mixed fortunes. The Group, comprising the Commercial Bank of Ceylon � Sri Lanka�s largest private sector bank � its subsidiaries and the associate, reported interest income of Rs. 132.818 billion for the year ended 31 Dec 2021, reflecting a growth of 7.04%. more..

Feb 28 (DN) Many economic and business leaders opine that the current Ukraine and Russian crisis would not have a severe impact on the SL economy but oil prices could increase while tourism receives a negative blow. Russia�s invasion of Ukraine will have a negative impact on SL�s tea exports, Tourism industry and oil prices, said Immediate Past Chairman of the Int'l Chamber of Commerce SL (ICCSL)- Dinesh Weerakkody. more..

Feb 28 (FT) Weekend COVID-19 detections totalled 1,965 with daily detections dropping below 1,000 on both Saturday and yesterday. Daily COVID-19 detections have remained above 1,000 since 30 January, when 1,056 persons tested positive for COVID-19. 977 COVID-19 patients were detected yesterday. All patients were from the New Year cluster. The previous day, 986 persons from the New Year cluster and two Sri Lankan returnees from overseas tested positive for COVID-19. more..

Feb 28 (CI) Through the course of this month, SL have played five T20Is in Australia, and three in India. They've lost all but one of those matches, often going down against substantially weakened opposition. But then, they've had their share of injury and Covid-related absences too. Here are four things they might have learned from their T20 Feb, with an eye to the World Cup later this year. Pathum Nissanka's strike rate across these 8 matches was 117, but he stuck it out for 260 runs. more..

Feb 28 (FT) Over 7,000 have registered within the first 120 hours or five days of the introduction of the first free online software engineering course introduced by the Uni of Moratuwa in partnership with DP Education and the Computer Society of SL. Registrations were opened on Wednesday at open.uom.lk and by yesterday morning 7,001 persons had signed up for the course. Of those who are registered, 6500 are locals. Of the balance 350 were Lankans living abroad whilst more..

Feb 28 (MFA) Foreign Minister Prof. G.L Peiris met with Minister Delegate for Trade and Economic Attractiveness Franck Reister at the Foreign Ministry in Paris to discuss French support for the expansion of economic relations with SL in a variety of sectors. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two Ministers at the conclusion of their discussion. Foreign Minister attended several meetings at the Chamber of Commerce of France. He met with Counsellor Bernard Quinet and more..

Feb 28 (TM) With the aim of preventing a fuel shortage, the CPC will distribute fuel to fuel filling stations around Sri Lanka according to the demand experienced by those filling stations, which means that certain filling stations will receive more fuel than usual while certain fuel stations will receive less. Panic buying by consumers and hoarding of fuel stocks by fuel filling stations has necessitated this new distribution policy. more..

Feb 28 (DM) Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith is to meet His Holiness Pope Francis at Vatican today, sources from the archdiocese of Colombo said. The duo will discuss on the investigations that are carried out on the Easter Sunday bomb attack. They are to meet 11am Rome time according to sources. The church has expressed it's disatisfaction on the investigations carried out with regard to the bomb attack and delay in finding the master mind behind the attack. more..

Feb 28 (AD) Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL) announced that it has approved the request of the CEB for extended power cuts today. PUCSL said that power cuts of 5 hours and 15 minutes will be imposed for areas under the groups P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W. This will be carried out under two phases with a power cut of 2 hours and 45 minutes between 8.30am and 4.45pm and another 2 hours between 4.45pm and 9.45pm. Meanwhile power cuts of 4 hours and 40 minutes are more..

Feb 28 (Island) SLFP General Secretary Dayasiri Jayasekera says the reaction of the SLPP to the deteriorating financial crisis and a spate of other contentious issues have compelled some members of the ruling coalition to make a set of alternative proposals dubbed a national declaration. Commenting on the proposals to be launched at the Monarch Hotel, Kotte, on 2 March, State Minister Jayasekera alleged that more..

Feb 28 (ST) To boost tourism, the Govt is to permit the sale of soft liquor � beer and wine � at all hotels, guest houses and home stay facilities registered with the SLTDA. A senior Excise Department official said cabinet approval had been granted for the proposal. He said the proposal would enable the sale of soft liquor to tourists staying at low-budget guest houses which hitherto had no permission to serve beer or wine. He said it would prevent local and foreign tourists consuming more..

Feb 28 (AD) Former Prez Maithripala Sirisena rejected accusations that he had received prior information pertaining to the Easter Sunday attacks before he left the country for Singapore and assured that he would have taken action to prevent the disaster if he had been made aware. He made these comments while addressing the gathering during a special event held at the Church of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception in Polonnaruwa. He said that a rumour is now being spread that more..

Feb 28 (GT) Passengers arriving in SL, who are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus (Covid-19), are not required to take a pre-departure RT-PCR or Rapid Antigen test, with effect from tomorrow (1). SL embassy in Doha posted a circular informing this � issued by SL�s ministry of health � on its Facebook page yesterday. �Fully vaccinated travellers do not need to take Covid-19 tests (PCR/RAT) before travelling to SL,� more..

Feb 28 (FT) Emeritus Professor Ranjith Senaratne, formerly Vice Chancellor of the Uni of Ruhuna and presently Chairperson, National Science Foundation, has just released the third of his edited work under an apt title The Future of the Agriculture and the Agriculture of the Future. Its subtitle, From Beaten Track to Untrodden Paths, implies that agriculture, like any other economic activity, should disrupt itself and move into new areas if it is to serve the world�s population at large. more..

Feb 28 (FT) Russian missiles are ripping into apartment blocks in Ukraine. The world watches in horror. This is a time of growing potential for upheaval for those previously furthest removed from conflict. People in Western countries are beginning to think about what the consequences of renewed global conflict could mean in terms of ever more spheres of daily life. First it starts with the gas pump. Does it end with military conscription and mass mobilisation? more..

Feb 28 (DM) 3-hour power shedding will be in place tomorrow and no power shedding has been announced during the night, Public Utilities Commission of SL (PUCSL) said. PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said a 3 hour power cut will be in place for all groups from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm. However, the consumers would experience a 30-minute unscheduled power shedding during peak hours if necessary to manage excess demand. Therefore, consumers are kindly advised to more..

Feb 28 (DM) Former Mrs. Sri Lanka for Mrs. World� Pushpika de Silva reported to the Piliyandala Police this afternoon to record a statement regarding the investigations into the attack on journalist Chamuditha Samarawickrema's residence in Piliyandala. Pushpika had been informed to appear before the police at 10.00 am on February 23. However, she had informed the police through her lawyer that she couldn't report to the police station on that day and requested another day. more..

Feb 28 (EN) SL�s inflation in the capital Colombo accelerated to 15.1 percent in January 2022 from 14.2% in December, a 13-year high, after two years of money printing compounded by a commodity bubble fired by the US Federal Reserve. In the month of January 2022, Colombo Consumer Price Index, the most widely watched index rose 1.1% to 160.1 points after rising 2.4% a month earlier. SL has been printing money to keep more..

Feb 28 (Island) First leopard (Panthera pardus) death in the current year was recorded from a tea estate in Norton Bridge on Saturday. Naturalist Rajika Gamage said that it was the first leopard killed in six months. He said that despite successful public awareness campaigns by the Dept of Wildlife Conservation, traps laid to catch wild animals particularly pigs and other mammals were the prime cause of leopard deaths in the upcountry. Gamage said the leopard deaths usually went up in more..

Feb 28 (EN) Facebook Protect a higher level of protection against hacking available to human rights defenders, journalists, and government officials are now available in SL, the social media platform said. �As part of our ongoing improvements to security, we�re expanding Facebook Protect, a program designed for people that are likely to be highly targeted by malicious hackers, including human rights defenders, journalists, and govt officials,� Facebook said in a statement. more..

Feb 28 (AD) UNHRC opens its regular 49th session on Monday (28), at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, amid Russia�s military operation in Ukraine. Heads of state and other dignitaries representing more than 140 countries will address the UNHRC over the next three days. Quite unusually, this high-level segment will begin with a consideration of a request from Ukraine to hold an urgent debate on the more..

Feb 28 (AD) Kaduwela Magistrate�s Court today acquitted Minister Basil Rajapaksa from the case filed against him over in 2015 over the misappropriation of Divineguma funds. The then minister of Economic Development had been accused of paying compensation and gratuity to Samurdhi recipients from the funds of the Divineguma community-based bank of the Divineguma Dept. It had been alleged that several financial irregularities had taken place in more..

Feb 28 (Island) Feb 21st 2022 (COLOMBO) The SL leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) is the largest of the four wild cat species found in SL, and the apex mammalian predator on the island. The sub-species of this charismatic animal is endemic to SL and widely distributed across the island�s dry zones and low country wet zones with habitats ranging to the cloud forests of the highest elevations in the hill country. It is believed that there are less than 1,000 leopards roaming in the wild within the island. more..

Feb 28 (CT) Chief Govt Whip, Minister Johnston Fernando warned the prices of essential commodities may rise further as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war. Responding to questions from the Media on the Opposition�s claims that there was no food, fuel, or electricity, he stated the Govt had decided not to halt any development projects. �We have to admit there is a cement problem today. That is because of the increased demand owing to the boom of the construction industry. more..

Feb 28 (CT) Health workers will resume their strike on 2 March and will continue on 3 March in all hospitals across the country. President of the College of Medical Laboratory Science Ravi Kumudesh said, however, taking into consideration essential treatment they decided not to involve children�s hospitals, maternity hospitals, cancer hospital, kidney Hospitals, the Institute of Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Mental Health and the Central Blood Bankin the strike. more..

Feb 28 (CT) Tamil National Alliance (TNA), together with the Global Tamil Forum (GTF), an organisation proscribed in SL, has issued a statement recently, congratulating M.K. Stalin for completing one year as Chief Minister of India�s Tamil Nadu State. The joint statement has been signed on behalf of the TNA by MP, M.A. Sumanthiran, and for the GTF, its Spokesperson Suren Surendiran, who has also been named as a proscribed person more..

Feb 28 (FT) As an expansion to its business in SL, MAN Energy Solutions SE � a leading solutions provider for the maritime, power and industrial sectors � recently inaugurated a state-of-the-art workshop in Kelaniya. This new development is a continuation of the company�s global strategy to move closer to its customers; the company previously opened an office in Colombo on Flower Road in 2013. At a ceremony to mark the event, Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardhana, and more..

Feb 28 (SLN) Indian Naval Ship (INS) Nireekshak which serves as a Diving Support Vessel (DSV) in the Indian Navy arrived at the port of Trincomalee today. The visiting ship was welcomed by SL Navy in compliance with naval traditions. 70.5 m long Diving Support Vessel is commanded by Commander Mohammed Ikram and she is manned by a crew of 107. Meanwhile, Commanding Officer of INS Nireekshak called on Commander Eastern Naval Area, Rear Admiral Sanjeewa Dias more..

Feb 28 (Island) The Mawella Bay, amongst the top 10 most beautiful beaches in Sri Lanka according to Lonely Planet, is under severe threat of destruction due to unplanned coastal constructions. The SL Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) has been fighting a lonely battle against the Coast Conservation and the Department (CCD) and the Fisheries Ministry to stop the destruction of the bay, according to more..